Recently I did some further research on this fairly creepy subject, the so-called Tunguska Event, finding a lot of information, pictures and accounts on what happened on that June morning of 1908.
To summarize somewhat, an explosion occurred in the skies over Siberia. It was caused by the impact and breakup of a large meteorite, at an altitude of roughly six kilometers, in the atmosphere.
What is it about this that intrigues me? The mystery, the pictures, the descriptions, the theories… Everything!
Just like I love reading about things like the Bermuda Triangle and the “Silverpilen”, I loved reading about this rather unusual happening. The fact that the meteorite (or asteroid) knocked a good 2,150 square kilometres (830 square miles) of trees down and that the power of the impact measured to be a thousand times that of the Hiroshima bomb, adds to the immensity of the thing that came towards earth at a speed of 10-12km/s one morning.
I’ve gathered some links you might find useful, if you’re even half as interested as I am (and if you’re still reading).
- Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kulik
- William K. Hartmann – http://www.psi.edu/projects/siberia/siberia.html